Phantom Downfall
by invisible0one
Summary: Part three of the Ghostly Games series. There's a war coming, he's expected to actually lead these people, and life just won't stop throwing curveballs at Danny. He's stretched way too thin, and yet the people that actually matter still believe he and his friends can win this war...you know, as soon Vlad stops making sure he can't.
1. Chapter 1

This was taking a lot of getting used to. Sure, I had been surrounded by all of this for nearly three weeks now, but I still couldn't get past being called 'sir' by everyone but my friends, family, and Vlad. I didn't ask for this position, but I really didn't have any choice but to sit there and accept it. Why does the world enjoy making life hell for me? I wasn't build to lead, I was made to fight. I don't want to be responsible for an entire operation along with these people. I couldn't even have enough control over my own life to just try ignoring it.

We had fallen into a nice little pattern here in the base. Wake up calls at seven (eight on the weekends, and I'd heard rumors of nine on holidays), then a regulated breakfast for everyone who didn't have something out of the ordinary going on. Because of our ghost powers, Dani, Fish, and I were all allowed to judge for ourselves how much food we needed since no one really knew, and Asa, Jon, and Ben all had the option of receiving up to twice as much food as any civilian due to their abilities. I didn't really like the special treatment, but my mom was hell bent on us having it, and so we were all forced to put up with it even though we usually didn't bother cashing in on our special diets. Nine times out of ten, we ate the same 2400 calories as everyone else in a day.

One hour after our initial wake up call, we were sent to our mandatory specialized training sessions for an hour and a half of hard workouts. The ghost powered teens were sent through a training course of mom and dad's own design. It was an arena specifically designed to work all of our powers equally and it supposedly got just a little harder each day; not enough that we'd notice it, but enough to keep us improving. Nothing in that course could do any real damage, but it still hurt like hell whenever we screwed up. Asa and Ben had a similar course set up, but it ran off what ever type of energy they commanded rather than the ecto energy I used. Mom had managed to actually isolate what exactly their powers influenced and given it a name, but I had honestly zoned out by the time she got to that part of her long, detailed, and boring explanation of what her and dad had been working on.

I really don't know where Jon goes for his training time, but he's said something about trying to gain more control over his reality jumping. All I know is he's apparently been appearing with items out of different realities more and more often though. He never would tell us why, but he's said that if he had to choose one reality to call home, it'd be ours. I'm not sure if it's just because he likes us the best, or if there are just enough people with superhuman abilities that he doesn't feel singled out.

The only person who doesn't have a specialized training session is Fritz. He's the best at what he does, and there's all there is to it. No one on base can come even close to giving him a real challenge, and my parents have yet to create a program he can't beat. He doesn't let himself fall out of practice though and is often seen training the higher leveled soldiers in hand to hand combat since it's the best challenge he can find at the moment. I've seen Sam and Jazz out there with him the few times I'm there. Sam helps with the teaching since she is likely the second-best normal person in combat while Jazz...well...Jazz is trying to learn, but she's probably better off directing people from base. Her and hand to hand go together about as well as handing her a Fenton Thermos. She'll get everything except her target. Even Fritz's little sister, Megan, who needs a lot of help in hand to hand regardless of who her brother is, can take Jazz down.

After our hour and a half of training, all of us were released for the day to do our own thing, a privilege not given to most. We were only given that time off because mom thinks we've been through enough practical training for a lifetime and we just need time to be teenagers instead of worrying about whether or not we'll live to see tomorrow. She doesn't fully realize I've worried about that every day of my life for the past three years, and I probably will for the rest of my life, regardless of how much free time I have. Vlad let her have her way because, while he may have somehow wriggled his way into being number one around here, mom can get him to do just about anything if she gives him a smile. I swear to god, I will strangle his ass with my bare hands if he tries to make a move on her.

So that's our life now. We train for the war everyone thinks is about to begin. The same war that we all know is already here, just waiting for a moment to erupt. I'd like to say we'll be fine as long as nothing changes, but I know my life too well. We aren't going to be just fine because something is going to happen and it's going to screw up every plan we've ever made. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I've been screwed over way too many times not to be.

How the hell do you think I became half ghost? It sure wasn't by having life on my side.

* * *

I'd dreamed he'd come back, but I always had to take these dreams with a grain of salt. Sometimes, my dreams could be an indicator of the future, but others times they were pure fantasy. Hell, I'd dreamed I was going to meet Danny and Dani Phantom the night after, and everyone knows that's an impossibility; they're cartoon characters for god's sake. That didn't stop me from hoping this dream would come true.

I guess I should have paid more attention to the fact that I didn't have the slightest clue as to where we were when I saw him in that dream.

* * *

Energy fluxes were happening all the time now. This wasn't really anything unusual, except for the fact that I normally couldn't sense my own, and now they were popping up all the time. I couldn't figure out why for the life of me and Jon didn't have a clue either. Whatever was about to happen because of this, I was going in blind, and by the looks of his aura, Ben was too.

* * *

_I hope I didn't just put you to sleep with that. It had to be done for an evil little plan of mine though... MUHAHAHAHA._

_...I think school has officially driven me crazy..._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	2. Chapter 2

You know, when I first started on my research into ghosts, I had never in a million years thought hybrids between ghosts and humans would be possible. Jack had brought up the possibility a few times, but I had dismissed it, telling him there was simply no way a being could possibly manage to walk that fine line in perfect balance. The irony that my own son and his clone were apparently walking the very line I thought to be impossible was not lost on me.

The knowledge that such hybrids were even possible was an amazing idea to me. In a way that was both twisted and beautiful, it was possible for a person to be both dead and alive at the same time, to experience the joys of life and the horrors of death at the same time. It was something that logic deemed impossible, yet nature decided to allow.

When I first found out Danny's secret, it was hard for me to get past the fact that, in technicality, my son was a ghost, one of my most hunted at that. If he hadn't been dropping little clues in the arena before I found out, it is fully possible I might have passed out from the shock of having a half-dead son who I had spent two years trying to hint down and capture, not to mention the countless threats Jack and I had made against his ghost form. Hunters or not, we shouldn't have been so clueless about what was really going on in his life. We were the ghost experts, and we couldn't figure out that our son was half-ghost.

It really is no surprise that Danny turned out as clueless as he did, look at who his parents are.

But all of that's in the past now, and I try to let it stay there. Yes, I hunted Danny before I knew who he was, but that wasn't my fault. I didn't know who he was because he didn't want me to know. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Regardless of what he has to say in the matter, it's hard to get past the guilt of threatening and hunting my own son.

I shook my head, determined to stop thinking about it, it was only going to make it harder for me to judge their progress, and there was something in particular I was watch for now. Whether they realize it or not, Danny and Dani are over protective of Fish in training. They both know she hasn't finished the transformation and is therefore weaker than they are, but I'm not sure if they realize this is causing them to smother her during practice, making it difficult for her to really work on her own powers in the training arena.

They were doing it again, but only Fish seemed to notice. Danny and Dani were a perfect team, something undoubtedly born from the fact that one was the clone of the other. The thing is, they weren't letting Fish in during the training sessions. She'd try to take care of one of the obstacles, but one of the others would come and take it out just before she could. Admittedly, it had taken me a while to catch it, but it was there and while it proved that Danny and Dani were on a much higher level than her, it also meant she wasn't actually getting much out of these sessions. The one thing I don't know is whether they realize they're being over protective of her or not. Either way, I need to make them realize they aren't giving Fish enough credit.

At the twenty minute point, Danny, Dani, and Fish completed their new level for the day. They looked to the window I was behind, expecting me to either restart the level or give them a new one, but I instead motioned them to me. Perhaps simply telling them what was happening would help to fix it.

"What's up, mom?" Danny was the first to arrive, and thus the first to address me. It'd take a moment for Fish to arrive; her ghost half isn't quite developed enough to give her the flight Danny and Dani have.

"I'll tell you in a second." As soon as I said it, the elevator doors opened revealing a slightly irritated Fish. The look on her face confirmed my theory that she had noticed the same thing I had. I looked to her. "You noticed it too, didn't you?" She nodded and I cut her off just before she started in on her rant about it. "I want to see if they know what they're doing before we tell them." Fish seemed to accept this and decided to just send a glare towards Danny and Dani instead. It was no secret she was a bit pissed off about this.

"Wait...what are we doing?" Danny was confused and just as clueless as usual. His clone held the same look he did.

"Are you telling me you aren't being over protective on purpose?"

"Over protective? How are we being over protective." Fish face palmed in response to Danny's question. Oh, my poor, clueless son.

"When was the last time you guys let me do much more than dodge the few attacks you didn't get to first?" Fish was definitely pissed. She was a lot like Sam and really didn't like coming off as being weaker than she really was. Fish was a fighter, and she refused to let anyone think otherwise.

"You aren't as strong as us, Fish! You can't handle everything!" Oh dear...Danny that was the wrong thing to say, even Dani knew it by the look on her face.

"Maybe I'm not as strong as a full halfa, but I'm not fucking helpless!"

"How about I let you go at one of last weeks courses alone, then they can see just how strong you are." The fourteen-year old nodded and I mentally let out a sigh of relief at being able to stop her from blowing up. That would not have been a pretty sight.

Fish turned herself intangible and jumped through the window. She couldn't fly just yet, but the power of flight was slowly starting to come in and she had enough of it to break her fall. She was getting a little too used to being able to pull stupid stunts like jumping through the window for my liking, but I wasn't going to stop her so long as she didn't get herself hurt. As much as her parents and I didn't like her little stunts, it would make it easier for her to learn control when her flight fully came in.

I went through the logs and gave her the second to last course from the week before. Danny objected, saying she couldn't handle it, but I knew she could. Even though Danny and Dani had been keeping her from really training for weeks now, she was a fast learner and just watching the other two take out one obstacle after the other would help her.

The program started, and Fish was poised to take out the first round of attacks before the weapons were even fully deployed. The weapons were set up behind several layers of ghost proof glass, so the kids couldn't accidently break them, but the system was designed to stop using a weapon after the glass surrounding it was struck. This way, they could take out "enemies" without costing us an arm an a leg in new equipment every day.

Fish did better than even I expected, matching nearly every attack with her own and only getting hit a few times. Even when something did knock her down for a second, she got right back up and kept fighting. She finished the level within thirty minutes, twice what it ad taken the whole team, but amazing in that she'd done it on her own. The look on Danny and Dani's faces was enough to tell me they realized they had seriously underestimated the seemingly tiny and defenseless girl.

It wasn't until she got back up to start poking fun at Danny and his clone that I realized Fish probably had more to her flight than she realized. Honestly, if she had tried, I have no doubt she could have gotten herself up to the observation deck without the elevator. I'd have to look at that tomorrow, for now it was time for them to enjoy some time off. No one else seemed to understand that they were just kids, not even them.

* * *

_So...I went on a writing spree last week...and managed to forget my two on-going stories in the process. How I did that, I really don't know._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

_OH! And for anyone reading Jon's story, "From One World to the Next", on FictionPress, I intend on getting that updated sometime tomorrow. :)_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	3. Chapter 3

_Beware of mind rot. I'm putting that T rating to better use than just swearing. ;)_

* * *

Five minutes, ten, fifteen... He was late, later than even he usually pulls. I'm used to the five minute delays and the cute smile assuring me we could make up a mere five minutes in the end. That's kinda why I usually tell him I need him to be here a good fifteen minutes before I actually need him here. Ben never has been one to make it anywhere on time. He tries (I think), but he's never been able to manage it unless there was a girl and a first date involved.

Fifteen whole minutes late though? It was almost unheard of and it was bugging me. Did he have another breakdown? He'd been getting better ever since we finally got out of that damned arena, but there are times when the old breakdowns start to come back out. I still haven't figured out what causes him to regress and he refuses to tell me though I'm starting to think it has something to do with another reality. Jon's been bringing back more and more stuff, but only the introduction of items from one other reality seem to set him off.

I can't really tell exactly where any item comes from, but the energies around them let me sort them so I can tell what items came from the same reality. There is one particular set of energies that sets him off, and I haven't got a clue why. I'm assuming it's something he's sensing subconsciously since even he can't tell me what is wrong with the artifacts. I wish I knew, not just to help him but also because something is itching at my mind that it has something to do with the energy fluxes I keep sensing.

Just as I was about to go looking for him, he finally walked into the training room with that cute and innocent smile on his face. Damn it, I can't stay mad at him for being late when he does that!

"You okay? You aren't usually quite this late." His little smile only grew. What was he planning?

"I was cleaning up a bit for later. Surely you haven't forgotten what today is?" I hadn't forgotten, today was our 17th birthday. I wasn't biologically 17 until about five minutes till midnight, while Ben was at roughly four this morning. In a world of technicalities, we weren't exactly the same age, but it was close enough. Our births were far enough apart that Ben still gave me shit from time to time about him being older, but close enough for everyone else to call it even.

"How could I forget my own birthday?" I playfully smacked him while fighting to keep my emotions under control. I knew he was probably planning a big night for us, likely with something less than innocent to end it all. We hadn't gone all the way before, but that's because I was trying to make him wait. I know him too well, and it doesn't matter how much he cares for someone at the start of a relationship, if he isn't forced to wait for the more physical side of things, he tends to lose his emotional attachment, which was not something I wanted. I'm not sure even if he knew whether or not he was going to try to go all the way, and if he did I wasn't sure how I'd react.

Stop thinking about it, Asa. You'll just get red in the face and you know he won't let that go until you explain why to him.

"Good. I'd hate to have to try to remind what today is; it'd only take away from our time." He wrapped his arms around my waist and I smiled, mentally cursing myself for getting so worked up so easily. He was doing this on purpose, trying to make me want the make out session he was hoping to get at the least later on. I've learned to recognize when he wants a little more than sweet and innocent cuddling, but he's never started in on it so early in the day; we're still in the dining hall for breakfast!

"I think breakfast and training get our time first, bud." I was telling him to back off a little. Not because I was embarrassed to have him doing this so publicly, but because I really didn't want to give in and have to later explain why we missed training to Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.

Fish walked in just as Ben kissed my neck and stepped away from me. She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Geez, is everyone but me getting laid?" She had spent most of yesterday ranting about how Danny and Sam needed soundproofing on their walls because, apparently, the walls weren't thick enough to completely muffle their sounds with her heightened hearing. Then, there were the five and a half million rumors of all the girls Jon and Fritz had supposedly gotten with. We knew they weren't true (Megan would never let either one of them get away with that), but we couldn't stop them from spreading or stop ourselves from using them as blackmail against the pair. It was so fun to stick those two in rather awkward situations.

"We haven't done anything, Fish."

"I give it twelve hours. At the most." I blushed, knowing there was a good chance she was right.

I shook my head, trying to clear it as I walked out the door for training. I needed to get my head on straight; the levels Mrs. Fenton was giving us were starting to get harder and harder and I really needed to find some new tricks because my old ones weren't making the cut anymore. If I had to face those courses alone, I would have never gotten as far as Ben and I have.

The energy started pulsing around me and I could almost see it in the air around me.

I nearly smacked myself upside the head when I realized something. The energy I manipulate resides in the air around me at all times, so why can't I use it fly? It wouldn't be as graceful as what the halfas could achieve, but it would be useful and the new vantage point might just be enough to give me back the edge over these levels that I was starting to lose.

The first blast fired off and Ben and I shot into action, manipulating the energy so that it would take out our targets rather than us. I started sensing out the energy around me, trying to figure out just how much of I would need to gather for my idea of flight. Too much would just waste more strength than needed and too little...well, I'd likely fall on my face if I used too little. I molded it quickly, forcing it to conform to the shape of my body before trying to move the whole thing up.

Slowly, I rose and the new manipulation of the energy became easier as I got higher into the air. I stopped myself halfway to the ceiling, roughly fifteen feet from the ground. Now for the hard part, keeping myself airborne while actually fighting back at the random targets in the room. I fell a few feet the first time I tried to multitask, but I didn't let it happen again and managed to stretch my concentration.

By the fifteen minute mark, we had cleared the level but I was exhausted. Still, I smiled as I came down from my position in the air. I nearly toppled as I landed, but Ben caught me. "You okay?" I nodded, my own strength returning rather quickly now that I had dropped the levitation. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Good. I wouldn't want you too tired for tonight." I felt my face flush at the comment. Now, he was just doing it to bug me.

Mrs. Fenton appeared in our training area, rolling her eyes at our display, me still in his arms, blushing. "While I shouldn't technically be doing this, you two are released for the day. It's your birthdays and you deserve a little time to yourselves." She put her hand in one of the pockets on her HAZMAT suit. "But, if you plan on doing something stupid, at least take this."

I'm sure I turned a million different shade of red when I saw the foil packet now in her hand. "I don't like the idea of you children doing this stuff, but I have a feeling trying to stop the pair of you would go over about as well as it did when I tried to stop Danny and Sam. At least this way I can make sure you're not being completely stupid with it." She gave us both a firm look, which I nearly missed from my embarrassment. "Don't do anything you aren't ready for though. Just because I know I can't stop it, doesn't mean I approve of this behavior." Ben quickly snatched the packet and shoved it in his pocket, well out of sight as his own face flushed as brightly as mine.

Mrs. Fenton shook her head and jerked a thumb over to the door. "Go, just try not to do anything too stupid."

We took off like a pair of rockets, trying to get as far away from the source of our embarrassment as we possibly could. We wound up in Ben's room and just sat there staring at the floor for a few minutes, trying to banish the conversation we'd had just minutes ago.

"We don't have to you know." Ben had finally recovered and was looking me dead in the eye. "I don't want to pressure you into anything you don't want to do."

My voice was small, but even. "But what if I want to?"

He moved closer, the previous awkwardness now forgotten. "Then your wish is my command."

* * *

I heard the alarm go off and grumbled, not wanting to get up. The ringtone I was used to sounded different, but I didn't put much thought to it as lingering remnants of my dreams often did weird-ass things to the way my mind perceived the alarm first thing the morning. Half the time, I couldn't actually read the words on my phone's screen when it first went off and relied purely on years of muscle memory to make sure I actually hit snooze rather than dismiss.

I fumbled around, not really looking, trying to shut the infernal noise off. Suddenly, my hand hit a button and the annoying buzzing stopped. When my tired mind finally processed the fact that a button had shut that thing off instead of the normal touch screen, my eyes shot open. That was most certainly not my nightstand.

I rolled over and my already wide eyes just went even wider.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

* * *

_Teehee...evil cliffhanger._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	4. Chapter 4

_More mind rot ahead. It's funny as hell, but it's mind rot, so be advised._

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I have got to be dreaming. There is no way in hell...this would not, could not, happen in real life. There is no freaking way I just woke up naked in bed next to the best friend I haven't seen in almost a year.

There is just no fucking way.

"I'm getting up, no need to get all pissy mom," the boy next to me mumbled as he rolled over and I realized there was no blanket over either one of us. I felt my face get hot when I saw EVERYTHING. That was not an image I needed burned into my skull!

I forced my eyes away from the area between his legs and saw him finally open his eyes. "Where the hell am I?" My hands moved to cover myself as he (I think mostly) unintentionally took in my naked form. I quickly grabbed at the sheet I saw at the foot of the bed and threw it over us.

"...seriously, Ben?" I smacked him over the head as I saw a tent in the sheet.

"I'm a teenage boy and I just saw a naked girl! It happens!"

"Your hormones couldn't be put on hold for the fact that neither one of us knows where the hell we are?"

"My mind is worrying about that, but the rest of my body finds it rather hard to ignore the naked, pretty girl who I just so happened to wake up next to!" God, this is so freaking awkward. How the hell did this even happen? I haven't seen him in nearly a year, I don't recognize anything about where we are, not to mention the fact that it looks suspiciously like we had slept together.

If I had to dream this, why couldn't I at least get the fun part thrown in?

There was a knock at the door. "It is safe to come in, or are we about to get an eyeful of an image we don't want to see?" That sounded like Tori, but what the hell would she be doing here?

"Uh..." Ben looked at me, but I honestly didn't have any form of an answer for him to give, so he just did the only thing he knew to do. "Does being covered by a blanket count?"

"Eh, close enough. Only half of us haven't seen things anyway." The door opened, and Tori entered. She gave an odd little look at the pair of us, then called out to people I couldn't yet see, "Well, Nutcase is dealing with a personal problem. Not the image I wanted to see, but not the worst it could have been."

"Is it safe to come in or not?" I didn't recognize that voice, but at the moment, that was also the least of my problems.

"Yeah, though would one of you please explain to me why you decided to send one of the few virgins in the group in first?" ...uh...I'm really not convinced I even want to know about that...

"Because you are the one person they both know in every reality, and are thus the least likely to freak them out in the event that my theory is correct." Was that...? Jon...what the hell was his last name? Forester or something... Regardless, his name is definitely Jon. He transferred to some fancy smart kid school after middle school, and all I had heard about him since was how much of a cryptic pain in the ass he was from an ex-best friend of mine. But...what the fucking hell was he talking about different realities for?

"Great. You have another theory that you won't tell us about. That's exactly what we needed." Another voice I didn't recognize, but the sarcasm was vaguely familiar to me, why I didn't know.

"Would someone please tell us what the hell is going on here?" Where my voice had frozen, Ben's was loud and clear.

Jon finally walked in, just as I remembered him from middle school, though he didn't act quite as awkward as he'd been then. "I highly suspect that none of what I'm about to say will make sense to you, but I'm obliged to try explaining the situation to you." I raised an eyebrow, things were just getting weirder and weirder. "Look, in a nutshell, there are god only knows how many different realities all running parallel to one another and the pair of you wound up having you consciousness switched with another version of yourselves. That or something royally fucked up beyond even my comprehension and you've simply lost all memories of the past year." Yeah...this was definitely not the same Jon I had half known a few years ago. The guy I was used know to would have never spoken that much or cursed.

"What the hell?" That was really about all I could get out. This was not making any form of sense.

"Do you need our help, Jon?" There was that voice again, followed by the entrance of a guy only a little older than I was. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place where.

"Danny, you are probably the last person we need helping right now. I get that the hero complex drives you, but seeing you is only going to confuse them more." Danny...oh god... The recognition hit me like a pile of bricks.

It's official, I really am dreaming. There is no way in hell that a cartoon character is talking in real life. "This is so not happening..."

"Great, now you've freaked her out, Danny. Way to go, Clueless One." A girl with black hair swatted Danny upside the head. Dear lord...was that Sam?

"This is not possible." I looked to Ben with wide eyes. And to think, just ten minutes ago, waking up next him naked was the weirdest thing to ever happen.

"Screw it. I need to know what we're dealing with here. All of you get in here." Jon was only confusing the both of us more. He was never one to give straight answers to anything from what I knew of him, but this was going over the top. Suddenly, several more people appeared. I recognized all of them, but only a few should have even existed. "Tell me how you know every person in this room." I really didn't know what the hell he was expecting for an answer, but doing as he asked would give me something to do, it would give me something to occupy my mind.

"You're an annoying pain the ass I knew in middle school. I only ever paid attention to you since that little bitch of an ex-friend, Rachel, liked you." I pointed at Tori. "She's my cousin." My eyes sought out the only other person who I knew even existed. "And Fritz is that one random smart kid who never socializes with anyone, yet everyone knows him." Okay...I was being a little mean, but I really didn't care right now. I was trying to make sense of the situation and it really was not working. "The rest of you are cartoon characters that shouldn't even exist."

Jon went silent and this spaced out look. "What's with him," Ben asked.

"He's probably looking into other realities to figure out where you came from." I gave Tori and odd look.

"And how is this even possible?"

"I doubt you'll believe this, but his consciousness jumps between realities. At the moment, he's probably trying to figure out what the hell happened and whether or not he can fix it. No offense, but we would like our versions of you back. We are seriously not in a position to be trying to train a couple of newbies."

"That's not going to happen, Fish. I don't think this can be fixed." Jon had rejoined the conversation. "You know they got slipped into the wrong reality at a young age, and I think they've been slipped back where they belong. It's happened before. I thought they might not be reset since they'd made it this long, but I was wrong. It was likely their 17th birthdays that triggered it."

"No, it wasn't. He turned 17 a month ago, and I've got another month to go." My option of trying to make sense of the situation was pretty much gone, but at least I could correct that little error in his thinking.

"I'd be willing to bet yesterday was the exact middle between your birthdays. It would have been nearly impossible for every version of you two to be born on exactly the same day." I gave him an odd look. "Look, I really don't care about whether or not you understand why it happened. I barely understand it myself and it isn't really important."

"Seriously? You don't think knowing how the hell we ended up in an alternate reality is important?" I had to agree with Ben; if that wasn't considered important, I'm not sure I want to know what is.

"Not really since there's nothing anyone can do about it." The pain in the ass shrugged. I would have walked over and smacked Jon if I were covered in more than just a friggin' sheet. Instead I had to settle for a glare. "Look, my people skills are failing, so I'm just gonna explain what's going on in a way you'll be able to understand and let these idiots deal with the shock. You're obviously familiar with that Danny Phantom carton from your reality. Mix that with part three of the Hunger Games series and you get your current predicament." Oh dear lord. This was not happening. "Now, as rude as this sounds, I need to go work off my frustrations." Jon walked off, muttering something about people not understanding what should be basic reality theories. God only knows what he was talking about.

"What the hell just happened?" I couldn't stop myself, but I really didn't care.

"Jon got a bit flustered. He hates it when people can't understand his worlds. I'll go get him to cool off a bit." Fritz waved and jogged out the door, trying to catch up to Jon, effectively leaving me with the guy I just woke up next to, a version of my cousin from a different reality, and four different people who shouldn't exist.

Who the fuck did I piss off to end up in this mess?

The sole adult in the room, whom I could only guess was supposedly Maddie Fenton, finally spoke. "I'm sure this is confusing and awkward for you kids. Get dressed and meet us outside and we'll try to clear some things up for you." I nodded numbly as she ushered everyone else out of the room. I let out a sigh of relief at the prospect of actually getting my ass dressed...then I remembered I wasn't the only one in the room. Fuck. I had to get dressed in front of Ben.

On the bright side, at least he isn't a complete stranger.

I looked over at him, then made my decision. "Screw it. You seeing me naked is the least of my problems right now." I got up from the bed, a little self conscious, and started hunting down the clothes that had apparently been thrown all over the place the night before. My face burned as what must have happened last night fully set in. We had to have been in real relationship for us to go that far...so did I still have hope?

No. No, damn it. I just managed to let the hell go of him, I refuse to get attached so easily when neither of us knows what the hell is going on here and whether or not it's permanent.

"You know, if you keep staring you're never going to get rid of your little problem." I'd seen him staring when I turned around to grab the last of the scattered clothing. Normally, I would have smacked him, but he was a teenage guy and regardless of the circumstances, I really couldn't expect him to just ignore a naked girl.

That and it could easily be used as blackmail later.

"Well..." Oh god...he was about to say something stupid, I could tell just from the tone of voice. "You could always help with that problem yourself." Did he seriously just say that? Yes, yes he did and I don't know why it surprised me.

"Seriously dude, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"One whole hell of a lot of things." I caught his little smirk as I rolled my eyes and gave him my best death glare now that we were both mostly dressed.

"I really do question your will to live sometimes."

"And I just happen to love messing with you." Almost a year had passed, and he hadn't changed a bit. He still had that same old cocky attitude that most people just couldn't get past. If I hadn't grown up in a house that was likely the capital of all smart asses, it's likely I wouldn't have been able to put up with him either.

"Let's just go, bright one," I said as I started pushing him towards the door. As much as I would love to keep this semblance of normality, if we were in as bad a position as Jon had made it sound like, we probably couldn't afford to be screwing around much.

He started walking beside me, but right as we reached the door, he leaned in and I could have sworn I felt something brush against my cheek. Before I even had time to process it, he'd pulled back and was following the group of cartoon characters down the hall like nothing had happened.

Did that really just happen? Could there actually be chance.

Stop. I will not get attached when this might not even last long. I made that mistake once and I refuse to do it again.

"So, where the hell do we start with this story," I asked, as we sat down in a dining hall, trying to get my mind off of things that would not happen.

"We start by eating, then we'll take you to training to see just how screwed we are. If you have any questions, now would be the time to ask, cause we have a busy day ahead." I just stared at Tori, not really knowing how to respond.

What did she mean by training?

* * *

_I'm awake at five in the morning...this is going to come back around to bite me, isn't it?_

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

_...now to actually get some sleep..._

* * *

_Invisible One_


	5. Chapter 5

We were led through a maze of halls, elevators, and various lobbies on the way to the training area. I could only imagine how the hell anyone managed not to get lost in this place. Both Ben and I were silent as were followed along, trying not to lose our group of tour guides. Everything about this was so surreal, I was still half convinced I was dreaming. The only reason I knew I wasn't was that I always wake up whenever I realize I'm dreaming. Occasionally, I can hang on to a dream for a few minutes after I realize it isn't real, but never for an amount of time anywhere near this. I was still waiting for the reality of it all to come crashing down on me; I expect that will happen in the middle of the night when my mind can no longer find something to keep itself busy.

The group of people suddenly stopped outside a large set of double doors while Mrs. Fenton entered a code. I noticed how close I'd been walking to Ben without realizing it, subconsciously keeping myself close to something I know. I could have grabbed his hand if I wanted to, could have made up for the time I didn't and spent months regretting it, but I resisted the urge. I don't want to fall back into that hole again, it took me way too long to dig my way out last time. If I let my emotions start floating towards to surface again and this isn't permanent, I really don't know what I'll do. It hurt like hell the first time, it'll only get worse a second.

The doors opened and my focus was brought back to the real(?) world. Training, there was some form of training we were expected to participate in. Supposedly, Jon, Fritz, Sam, and Tucker weren't even supposed to be here, but I heard something that sounded suspiciously like "Vlad can go fuck himself if he objects" come from Maddie when the issue was brought up. Never would I have ever thought the kind hearted Maddie Fenton would ever say something like that, but then again, she was talking about Vlad...

Who I could only assume was Jack Fenton greeted us at the door. "Hey Mads. What's with the entourage today?"

Mrs. Fenton pointed at Jon, who then explained. "Long story short, there was a reality screw up and these two," he pointed at Ben and I, "both are and are not the same people you spoke to yesterday."

Mr. Fenton nodded, "if you say so." I don't know why it surprised me that he didn't question anything about it, honestly I don't know why anything surprised me at all.

"Why don't you kids go down to the training room and we'll see just how far back we've been set." Mrs. Fenton waved us all off as Danny led Ben and I down to the area below the observation deck, then flew back up to where his friends and parents were waiting.

Mrs. Fenton's voice came over the intercom. "I'm just going to put this on the easiest level I have and we'll see what you two do naturally. Danny will come help you if even that's too much for you, but I don't think it will be." Yeah, you say that now. I've had exactly one martial arts class in my entire life, and that was on ground defense. I don't know exactly how much Ben knows, but I know he's pretty clumsy and really not that fast or agile.

We are screwed.

Something popped out of the wall and fired at us just as I noticed the little target it had on the side. I barely managed to get out of the way before it hit me. The bullet of...something whizzed past my head and I heard Ben hit the ground behind me. I didn't know if that was his best idea of not getting hit, or if it had really knocked him to the ground.

I felt a temporary moment of victory at dodging at least the first shot...then I realized it was now bouncing off the walls.

Well...fuck.

Then, just to make it worse, a second arm extended from the wall and fired off a shot, joining the one already ricocheting off the walls like a bouncy ball.

As I was jumping and dodging the duel blows, I once more noticed the target on the side of the armatures and it finally hit me that targets are generally meant to be hit. But what were we supposed to hit it with? We weren't given any weapons before we came down here and there weren't any in this room itself. What was I missing?

I did the only thing I knew to do when my mind was clouded and I couldn't think straight: I stopped what I was doing and focused. Admittedly, this was probably a rather stupid move considering there were two barely predicable shots of something flying around, but I had no better ideas at the moment.

I envisioned the same mental shield as I had a million times back home, the one that just felt like it was meant to block outside elements, usually thoughts. It always cleared my head before, but now it had a second, unexpected side effect.

As I opened my eyes to the sight of one of the glowing shots headed straight towards me, it suddenly bounced away only inches from my face. Well, I didn't know I could do that, but was something along these lines how I was supposed to beat the course? Well, it was a better plan than nothing.

I saw the bullet-thing head back towards me again, but I didn't let it bounce off my shield this time. Instead, I mentally moved the coloring of my shield around the blob and turned it back towards one of the two armatures. I felt myself weaken as I released the blob to energy to hit it's target. It was a drastic dive in my strength, and most people would have backed off and would have not tried this again, but I've a stubbornness for pushing myself born from dealing with athletic coaches for two years in middle school. Just because I sucked at everything, doesn't mean I didn't try anyway.

The second shot of whatever the hell it was came towards me and I vaguely noticed Ben just staring at me as I grabbed ahold of the second shot and flung it at the remaining arm on the wall.

Then, I nearly fell to the ground, feeling as if I were about to pass out. I started up the eight-count that had yet to fail in keeping me conscious, remembering a second trick of mine and wondering if it would work as well.

Danny and the others came down to meet us, but I felt barely aware of them themselves, more focused on their noise. I wonder...

The purple shield I'd kept up all this time shifted to a light blue as I redirected it's purpose. Instead of sending energy away, I wanted to draw it in to replenish me. I'd been able to pull it off at home a few times with live music, I could only hope I could do the same thing with just flat out noise. It's the same type of energy, just harder to follow. I pulled it towards me, or tried anyway, but the effects were minimal. There was enough gained to keep me from passing out, but not nearly enough to get me back on my feet anytime soon.

* * *

I watched from the observation room as Asa and Ben began their training. Within the first minute, Ben had already been knocked to the ground by a shot and was too shocked to stand back up. Asa kept dodging, probably trying to figure out what she was supposed to be doing. Then, she just froze.

"Do I need to go down there?"

Mom looked down at one of the various screens (which only Dad and Tucker would ever have a chance of understanding besides Mom) before answering me. "No. She's fine." I gave mom a quizzical look before turning my attention back to the frozen girl. I only barely saw the energy bolt fly get deflected away from her as a look of understanding crossed her face. "She caught on pretty fast, though I'm not sure how much of that is just her body going through the motions and how much she's actually, consciously doing." There was a ping as the first of the flying energy bolts hit one of the targets and disappeared, leaving Asa looking tired, but determined to finish this now that she had it figured out.

The second shot was redirected as well, hitting the second target, but we were all rushing own to the training floor when we saw her start to sway, then sit on the ground. I could hear her softly count to eight over and over as we entered, then I saw her freeze up again and an odd quality suddenly overtook the sounds of our voices. Was she doing that?

After a minute, the odd tone died out along with her counting and Mom and Dad slowly managed to get both her and Ben back on their feet and I realized what had happened.

This version of Asa was nowhere near as skilled as ours had been, and had wound up using more energy than needed to pull off one of her more basic moves. If this was where we were starting with her, then we weren't in too bad of a position. It certainly was not the best, but it was by no means the worst.

On the bright side, we were now minimally less screwed.

* * *

_For some reason, I haven't been able to write much of anything lately..._

_Jon: That's a lie, and you know it._

_*Glares at Jon* We don't talk about the side account, Jon. Not if you wish to live, that is._

_Anyway, I'm probably going to have to cut updates down to just one a week on this, at least for a little while while my teachers all fight to finish teaching their subjects before the oh so wonderful state testing._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	6. Chapter 6

Both of them had been quiet ever since we finished training. At first, it had just been because Ben was mentally stunned and Asa had nearly passed out not too long ago, but something's shifted between now and then. When I thought they were about to rejoin us in conversation (we never did leave them to go to our own training sessions), they'd each start looking around again, searching for someone before shutting right back down. They were looking for someone, but it was no one they could find. Who were they looking for?

"Danny?" I shook my head as Sam started waving her hand in front of my face to get my attention.

"Yeah?"

"You okay? You kinda spaced out there."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just trying to wrap my mind around everything that's happening." I smiled at her, not really wanting to bring up the missing people Ben and Asa seemed to be searching for until they were ready to bring it up.

"This is pretty weird, but weird just means everything's fine for us. The day things become predictable is the day I start worrying." I laughed, trying not to think about the missing people the pair across the table seemed to be looking for. While I tried to put it out of my mind, I couldn't help feeling that whatever they found out where the missing people were, they'd be crushed.

Thankfully, Fritz and Megan walked in just a few minutes later, making it so much easier to take my mind off trying to figure out what was bothering Ben and Asa.

"I'm telling you, idiot, she likes you."

"No, she doesn't. We're just friends!"

"Yes, and I'm also an Easter Bunny."

"There's nothing going on between us!"

"Yet."

"What?"

"You forgot the 'yet' at the end of that sentence, I corrected you."

"She doesn't like me like that, nothing is going to happen!"

"Oh, you dense, dense boy."

"What did you call me?"

"I. Said. You. Are. Dense."

"I am not dense! There is nothing going on between us and she doesn't like me like that!"

"Oh, my god. You're more clueless than Danny!" Megan threw her hands up in frustration while Jon just laughed from his spot beside me.

"You can't kill him, Megan. Dense as he may be, we do actually need him for this war," Jon said, laughing again when he had finished.

"You sure I can't kill him? It might knock some sense into him."

Ben finally joined the conversation. "What are you two going on about?"

"Claire likes him and he's too damn dense to see it." Megan replied bluntly, ignoring her brother's protests that Claire did not like him.

Asa snickered. "Good luck knocking some sense into him. Where I come from, he's a freaking genius, but can't tell that nearly every girl in the "nerd" circle has had a crush on him at some point or another. The only two that I know have never had an interest in him are together, and he still doesn't seem to get it."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" She turned a little red at Ben's comment.

"Shut it."

"I knew it! You do still like him!"

"No, actually. I haven't in nearly a year. Damn, I thought you'd have it figured out by now."

"I haven't exactly been around much the past year."

"True, but you were with me when it started to change." She smirked at him, probably knowing this was going to drive him up a wall if she didn't tell him and fully planning on leaving him in the dark.

"Who did you like then?"

"Eh, I think I'll let you figure that out." She gave him a look that looked familiar, but it took me a minute to remember where I'd seen it before. It was the same look Sam used to give me whenever I asked who had caught her eye. She won't tell him because she isn't ready to admit how she feels.

"So, we have three clueless boys all at the same table. I'm starting to think it's just one of those things that comes with being male." All the girls laughed at Fish's comment, while the rest of us just glared at her. We are not that clueless!

"I'm telling you, it's that damned short chromosome that screws everything up for the boys." Ben glared at her, but the rest of us stared at her in confusion. Asa caught our confusion and gave us an odd look. "You don't know about X and Y chromosomes, do you?"

Jon shook his head. "While this world is a bit ahead in the medicinal side of science, no one's actually gotten around to looking into genetics yet. They'll understand most science concepts you throw at the them, but I'll probably be the only one to get anything referring to genetics."

"What the hell are you going on about, Jon," I asked, not really understanding a word he said.

"Case and point," was his only reply.

The conversation died down after that, but I noticed Ben and Asa were once more looking for someone. It was Sam who finally asked about it.

"Looking for someone?"

"Yeah...where are our families," they both asked.

All of us froze at that question. We didn't realize they didn't know. None of us really knew how to tell them, so we all kinda looked at Jon as he would probably have the best luck at telling them.

Jon kinda glared at us, not wanting to be the one to say it, but gave in anyway. "There's really no gentle way to put this. Your families died in a fire in the town square of your District years ago. The pair of you barely made it out alive."

All of us were silent until Ben finally spoke, a quiver in his voice.

"Dead?"

* * *

_Yeah...it's mostly filler, but take the random bonus chapter I'm about to post to appease you...I BLAME THE OVERBEARING PLOT BUNNIES!_

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	7. BONUS: Starcrossed Lovers

_PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS JUST RANDOM BONUS STUFF AND A REAL CHAPTER WENT UP JUST BEFORE THIS._

_The following is really just bonus filler that attacked my mind, and would not leave me alone._

_For the record, italics are one reality, bold is another, and italics and bold comes from both._

* * *

**No One Ever Told Us...**

* * *

We're_ alone, but together._

**We're apart, but not alone.**

_Our families were killed years ago._

**He lost his mind before I even knew what was happening.**

_We cling to each other because it's all we have left._

**We hold onto our memories of each other because we've been separated for so long.**

_We each have our issues, but at least we're together._

**We each have our issues, but at least we have our families.**

**_No one ever told us we could only have one or the other._**

**Your monsters caught up with you, but I couldn't help because you never told me.**

_Your monsters caught up with you, but I couldn't help because I'm not strong enough alone._

**You've been alone all this time, but I swear it's not my fault.**

_You've been alone all this time, even though I've been right here._

**Once upon a time, I thought we could be together. Life made sure I wrong.**

_Once upon a time, I thought we'd never be in each other's arms. Life made sure I was wrong._

**All this time, I've missed you, but at least I have them.**

_All this time, I've missed them, but at least I have you._

**_No one ever told us we could only have one or the other._**

_When we have each other to love, we don't have them._

**When we have all of them to love us, we don't have each other.**

_**Love is always such a fickle thing, but why must we only have one?**_

_We're happy to have each other, but why can't we have our families as well?_

**We're happy to have our families, but why can't we have each other as well?**

_**No one ever told us we could only have one or the**_** other.**

* * *

_I guess that counts as a poem type thing...? I dunno, but it doesn't really matter anyway._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	8. Chapter 8

_Umh...yeah...there's mind rot ahead. I wasn't initially planning on it, but it is there and is a quite a bit more than before. Please be forewarned._

* * *

"Dead?" We all nodded, not one of us feeling envious of Jon's position as messenger. It's amazing, and almost sad, how quickly things can go from the whole table picking on me about my apparent cluelessness (I'm serious! She doesn't like me!) to a topic as grave as this.

The pair went back to their silence, not uttering a single word even when they followed each other back to the room they'd woken up in this morning. It was after dinner, so I knew they would have no reason for returning to us, but I also knew they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. It took me weeks to get more than an hour of unaided sleep at a time after my family was stolen. I was on sleep meds for months after that, the images of my family's slaughter refusing to let me go. Even though I knew it wasn't my fault, I never did get past the feeling that I could have done something, I could have done more than just stand off on the sidelines, cowering with my sister.

I couldn't stop myself from remembering my days back home that night as I lay in my cot, listening to the quiet breaths of my sister on the other side of the curtain. Megan was all I had left. She was the only one I managed to save back then. I lost both my parents and my three and five year old brothers we never brought ourselves to speak about. We didn't have a clue what had happened to Max and Alex, all we know is that they were taken. Not killed on the spot like our parents were, like we were likely about to face before we were saved, they were just taken. God only knows where they are now and what's become of them. I wonder if Alex, the older one, even remembers us now.

Maybe that's why I'm so hell bent on protecting Megan now. It's not solely because she's the only family I have left, but because I failed my younger brothers and I refuse to do the same to her.

Jon has told me before that my sister is always the only sibling I have, but he never tells me why. Sure, he's mentioned that in a few realities, I simply never had any siblings other than my sister, but I know that's not true for all of them. Have I failed my brothers in every world they exist in?

I fought back the tears threatening to form. I knew I should probably just let my emotions out for once, but I don't want to wake Megan and have her worrying over me. We've both had to grow up so fast, but I refuse to let her lose what little childhood she has left. There's no need for her to take on a burden I can handle on my own when she already has so much to deal with. Maybe it was stupid, but I kept my emotions in their tightly capped bottle, even when I wanted to let them out and cry. Someone had to be strong for us, and I was willing to be the rock Megan needed in her life.

A silent laugh left my mouth as I remembered the last day of peace we had before our lives got turned upside down. It was Max's third birthday, and we were all down by the pond of a lake that resided near one of the outer boundaries of the District. Max was such a happy, carefree, little kid. He always had a smile on his face, and for a three year old just beginning to really grasp the concept of language, he was rather good with making comebacks to whatever comment his older brother made. I'll admit, sometimes his remarks made little sense, but the boy was a quick thinker. He would have done great things with his life, given the chance.

Then, there was Alex. I remember him chasing down his younger brother, with a similar goofy grin plastered on his face. He wasn't as quick witted, but he never backed down from the few challenges he found in his short life. Every time we tried to keep him out of something, he'd find his way into it eventually. The longest I ever remember it taking him is a month.

It had always amazed me how close those two were. Alex hadn't taken very kindly to Max's arrival and had never seemed to warm up to him until Max figured out how to talk, how to communicate. He picked up on his language skills faster than most, and as soon as he did, Alex refused to leave his side. He no longer cared that Max was his pesky little brother, Max was Alex's best friend and that's all the pair ever truly gave a damn about.

I felt a sad smile forming on my face, and the tears once more threatening to break free of the bottle I'd tried to keep them contained in.

Then there was a knock at the door, a familiar voice on the other side asking to come in even though it was already past midnight. I heard Megan get up, woken from her light slumber and Claire appeared in the door, greeting my sister before walking past the curtain in the middle of our shared room to my side of it. She looked as if she were trying to convince herself to do something, then her expression changed entirely. I hadn't yet had a chance to wipe the stray tears from my eyes.

"Are you okay?" I nodded, not really trusting my voice at the moment. I was as close to a wreck as anyone would ever see me and I was sitting in front of an admittedly hot girl. I may not be good with emotions, or really care what other people thought of me, but I knew I didn't want anyone, especially her, to see me with these unshed tears in my eyes. I knew tears weren't a sign of weakness, but they were a sign of vulnerability, something I did not like showing to anyone.

"Don't lie to me. I know you aren't okay." She grabbed my hand and I just stayed quiet, trying to distract myself by wondering why she was here in the first place.

"I'll be fine." I left off the silent "eventually" that I was thinking in my head.

"You need to relax some, get your mind off whatever it is." She was right, and I knew it. "Let me help you some." I looked up in surprise as her hand moved away from mine. My breath caught in my throat as I saw her hands moving to lift her shirt up and over her head.

I wanted to keep my eyes off her, I really did, but I couldn't. "You shouldn't have done that." My voice came out weaker than I intended.

"I want to, and you know you do too. Let me help you." My mind could only wonder at how she might possibly be planning on helping me to relax. I thought of the farthest we could go, and felt my cheeks heating up. We weren't even dating, she wouldn't go that far, would she? Besides, I didn't think I was ready for that with anyone yet. I hadn't...you know, done it, before.

She moved closer to me, and I couldn't bring myself to move away when her lips suddenly collided with mine. Slowly, I let myself give in and move my lips against hers. I'm still not fully aware of who deepened the kiss and when it happened.

Claire grabbed my hand again and brought it up to rest on her bare chest, a moan escaping her lips when my hand made contact. At this point, I heard the door slam shut in what I assume was Megan leaving before she got an earful of something she didn't want to even know about.

She straddled me, her hands wandering the expanse of my own exposed torso as she kissed me. I wasn't sure just how much I wanted this, but I couldn't deny that it was keeping my mind off the memories of the old days. She started to grind against me, awakening arousal in my body as my hands began to explore without her guidance. I knew where this was going, but I couldn't bring myself to stop her.

Maybe she was right, maybe I did just need to relax with something as simple as sex.

I watched as she lifted herself off me to pull her shorts down, revealing a lack of underwear as I just stared. Never before had I realized just how little I knew about a woman's body.

My nerves tingled as she brought her fingers to the hem of my sweats, dragging both them and my boxers down as I just laid there, my mind a mess of nervousness, excitement, arousal, and confusion. Why was she doing this and why was I letting her?

Then, I felt her mouth in a place no one had ever touched before and my mind went blank, the sensation finally taking over my mind all together.

She kept pushing forward, farther and farther until she was suddenly on top me again, then around me. It took me a minute to realize we were doing the deed, and I hadn't stopped her once.

It wasn't until we'd finished and I'd...come...inside her that I realized something.

We weren't using a condom and birth control is in short supply here.

I could hope this pleasured relief from the guilt that constantly plagued my mind wouldn't come back around ot bite me in the ass, but I knew better than to expect that.

God, Megan was going to kill me for this.

* * *

_That did make sense right? If it didn't I apologize, I'm a bit brain-dead from EOC testing today..._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	9. Chapter 9

"You know, when you said you had a mission for me, you never said it'd be that easy or fun." I smirked at my father, only slightly worried about one of the requirements of this mission.

"I had to leave you some surprise, dear."

"And you're sure this won't destabilize me?" That was the only thing worrying me. My traitor of a sister, Danielle, might be stable now and have provided the research to stabilize me, but I had no idea whether or not a pregnancy would cause problems.

"Of course not, Claire. You'll be fine, my child." I managed a smile, a real one.

"Did you have fun last night," he asked, as if it were the most casual question in the world.

My face burned. "Daddy! Why would you ask that?"

"No reason. Just making sure I didn't need to teach that boy a lesson for my little girl," he said as he turned back to me. "So, do I need to teach him a lesson, dear?"

I hung my head, not entirely believing he was seriously asking about it. "He didn't do anything I didn't want." I paused for a second looking for something, anything, that might get him off this topic. "Where are the boys?" Please, please, let it drop. I'll do anything, just let it drop.

"Max and Alex were downstairs training, last I saw them. You might want to go make sure they aren't doing too much damage. Just because I can afford to replace the equipment, doesn't mean I'd enjoy the inconvenience."

I nodded. "I'll go check on them, then."

Dad waved me off, but called out to me as I neared the door. "Oh, and Claire. Do remember not to tell anyone about the boys. The longer we can keep them hidden, the better." I wasn't entirely sure why he wanted Max and Alex to stay a secret, but I kept my mouth shut about the two orphans we'd taken in. I didn't know their history, so it was better to just trust dad on this.

After all, he'd never do anything to hurt me or them, right?

* * *

Fucking hell. How could I have let myself act like such an idiot?! Last night should not have even come close to happening and yet I didn't bother to stop her when she practically threw herself at me! I acted without thinking, without even considering the consequences of something so horrifyingly stupid! What if I got her pregnant? What the hell was either one of us supposed to do then? A fucking war is brewing out there! No kid should be brought into this mess!

Damn it, I hate not being able to fix my mistakes!

I needed to calm down, the last thing I needed was to be beating myself up more than the others would already. I was already going to face hell and then some; there was no doubt that Megan had already given them enough information for them to kick my ass.

I groaned, rubbing my forehead with the heel of my palm as I stood outside the doors of the cafeteria I was really dreading entering. Slowly, I forced myself to open the doors and walk in to face the hell that was bound to be waiting for me.

Oddly, no one gave me any weird or reprimanding looks as I sat down with my usual tray of food. No one made any comments, they just kept their usual conversation going. I nearly let out a sigh of relief at this- if they weren't dragging me into a conversation then everything was normal for the time being. Megan hadn't told on me. Yet. I could pretend this wasn't going to bite me in the ass for the time being.

Not five minutes later, my little sister walked through the doors, Jazz by her side. The look on Jazz's face told me all I needed to know. One down, seven to go.

Megan promptly walked up and smacked me upside the side. "You are a complete and utter fucking idiot." She paused for a second, "In every sense of the phrase!"

There was silence before Jon spoke. "You didn't."

"Yes, this," smack, "idiot did."

"Ow. Give me a break! I know I screwed up, but I can't go back and fix it!" I glared at my sister. Yes, I probably did deserve more than just a few smacks upside the head, but still. Hitting me a few times wasn't going to change what happened.

"You did more than screw up! I bet you two didn't even use protection! What the hell are you going to do if she gets pregnant?" Megan was seething, as was her right. Not only did I royally screw up, she got kicked out of her room last night because of it.

"I'll figure it out if it happens!" Why? Why did she feel the need to farther berate me with the things I'd already gotten pissed at myself for?

There was a snicker from across the table. "That doesn't look familiar at all." Sarcasm dripped from Ben's voice. Oh hell no. I had not screwed up this badly in his original world too, had I?

Asa glared at him. "Remembering what it's like to be on the receiving end of that?" I can't be sure, but I could have sworn I heard her mutter something under her breath that sounded like "albeit for slightly different reasons."

At first, I didn't think he'd heard her, but I was proven wrong. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing, idiot." I saw her struggling with something, but couldn't tell for the life of me what it was as she quickly refocused herself and went back to playfully teasing him. I'm still not entirely sure what that was about, but it was something that caused Sam to give her a look of sympathy.

Among all the berating and swats upside the head I was receiving from my "friends," I noticed Jon on the other side of the table, his face cold and calculating. He was muttering to himself so that most people wouldn't be able to hear him, as was his usual form, but years of dealing with his smart ass has trained me well. Along with the various ghost powered teens sitting around me, I was also able to figure out what he was going on about.

"Two possibilities: either she's pregnant, or he's damn lucky. Nine times out of ten, it's that one...but, I have been screwing with a lot of things here. Then again, that's the one aspect I've yet to get my hands on, and if that frootloop acts anything like I'm used to...No, events are falling in different orders..." He trailed off, his barely coherent strand of thoughts going silent as he began to contemplate our situation in his head.

Screw it. Normally, I'll let him think I don't hear him going on and on about various things, but this was too important in my opinion. "Jon, what do you know?" I looked him in the eye, trying to dissuade him from lying to me. It was unlikely I could stop him if he really didn't want to tell me, but there was no harm in trying.

He didn't fail to meet my eyes. "Honestly? Nothing. You should not have slept with her, but if you're lucky, enough events have been altered in this reality as compared to the others that you might end up with the better outcome." Well...that was encouraging...

Who am I kidding? I'm screwed.

"Leave him alone for now, guys. I'm sure Mrs. Fenton is going to give him hell too." Yeah...I'm really not sure whether I was relieved or slightly scared by Asa's remark. On one hand, it got the others to stop bugging me as much, but it also gave me a glimpse into my future.

The conversation slowly moved away from my mistake and onto other things before our breakfast time was up and we started the long walk through the maze that would lead us to training. Lately, we've been training together instead of separately. We managed to convince Mrs. Fenton that we were a team and needed to train as such so we could learn to combat each other's weaknesses.

Really, we just didn't want to be separated.

I walked up to Ben and Asa as they walked side by side. I don't know whether they've really adapted this quickly or not, but I had to at least admire the façade they were able to keep up.

"You two adjusting okay?" Really, I should have asked them this a while ago, but...well, I'm not very social as it is and now they are pretty much two entirely new people. Sure, they share a lot of the same personality traits, but they grew up in backgrounds than the pair I'd befriended. It was like I was having to get to know them all over again, and I'm not very good around people I don't know very well.

Asa smiled. "I'm getting along about as well as can be expected. I'd love to say weirder things have happened, but," she shrugged, "really, this takes the cake. Even waking up next to him can't quite match the overall weirdness."

Ben pretended to be offended. "So you're saying you'd never wake up in bed next to me?"

"Not without knowing what the hell happened the night before!"

I laughed. The playful banter that went on between them could only be rivaled by that of Danny and Sam. It was the product of a friendship years strong. Even though they'd mentioned being separated for a year, they still seemed to fall back into their playful teasing without thinking about it. Maybe it was just their way of dealing with things, but it was pretty effective.

"Fritz! Save me!" Ben ran behind me after what I assumed was a rather insulting comment as Asa raised her hand to swat him and I couldn't help another laugh at their antics. "It's not funny! She's going to kill me!"

"No, if I wanted you dead, I'd set Fish on you."

His eyes widened. "She was scary before, but now she's got knives!"

Fish turned. "Don't piss me off, darling." She threw a knife, landing it in the wall just past where Ben had been standing a moment ago. She'd probably get chewed out later for throwing knives in the halls, but I some how doubted she really cared.

Just then, Mrs. Fenton walked out the doors to the training area we'd almost reached. "Thank god you're here. I think you need to see this."

We were ushered into the observation deck as a news report was playing. I didn't really catch most of it, but I got all the information I needed from the reactions of those around me.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," Danny growled, his eyes flashing green. "How the hell did we miss that? DALV is Vlad's company and we didn't fucking see what he was doing! First he wiggles his way into control here and now his company is suddenly the ruling power in the Capitol? He's not just trying to screw up our lives; he's trying to take over the world."

That scared me, but I think Jon's words had a more profound effect, though they came in much simpler terms. "Well...we're screwed."

* * *

_I do hope things aren't moving too slow for anyone. I think I'm done setting things up now, so this should start taking off. ^_^_

_On a side note, I really can't be sure when the next update for this will be. I am going on a trip with my choir, and since it's a school funded event, god only knows if they spent enough money to get us rooms with Wi-Fi or if we all get to go five days without the internet. O_O_

_Anyways, comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	10. Chapter 10

Why did I let my gaurd down? I've been so busy trying to get used to all the increaseingly weird shit being thrown my way that I wasn't paying attention to Vlad's next move. If I'd been paying attention, I'd have been able to eliminate this threat before he got into power, but now it's going to be a lot harder and require brute force to get him out of power.

DALV had bought out the major powers of the Capitol. There was a president in the Capitol, but companies were what really ran the show. The current president was the CEO of the highest grossing company, and their power often held for years so long as they didn't piss off their client base.

The issue is that most people don't remember this little tidbit. Honestly, they tell you once when you're too young to be really paying much attention and that was it. You went with the flow of things after that. The only people who don't wonder why the presidental terms are so sporadic and not uniform are the few who manage to remember this after they first hear of it. If Vlad hadn't bragged about the power his company was poised to steal in our earlier fights, I wouldn't know about the company run politics either.

He's always had his hands in the running of Panem, but he had never worked to take control before and now I know why. Vlad wanted to get in control of both the resistence movement and the Capitol at the same time. This plan was only delayed by the negotiations he had to make before DALV could buy everyone else out. Now, he had control over both warring sides and he ultimately had the power to manipulate the end result into whatever he wanted if we didn't get this fixed soon.

For once, one of his frootloop plans actually got somewhere. If I thought we were screwed before, it was worse now. No one here has a company that could even join the ranks that made up the Capitol, much less take DALV's place on the throne, and not enough people would see the connection between DALV and Vlad for us to vote him out of power here. We were fighting against a power that knew he'd won and was now taunting us with the peace we'd be damn lucky to ever see again.

* * *

The last piece of the puzzle fell into place as I realized what Vlad would have needed to get himself into power both here and in the Capitol. God, I'm such an idiot. I've gone though this war several times, and yet I still missed this. Sure, the master plan changes ever so slightly from time to time, but I knew something like this was coming, I just couldn't figure out what it was before now.

I watched Danny and Dani beat themselves up for not seeing this sooner, Sam and Jazz beside each stuck between comforting them and kicking their asses, Fish and Fritz trying to figure a way out of this already, and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton trying to explain all of this to the very lost Asa and Ben. Good, no one was paying attention to me.

I snuck out before anyone had time to remember I was there after my initial remark and headed down to where Steve had been trapped. Honestly, I don't know how they managed to trap him, but none of his old tricks can get him out of the cell the Fentons had devised. They can't stop his jumping, but his physical form is stuck in the cell.

He didn't look up when I approached, something for which I was glad; I didn't know what I was planning on saying to him, but I knew I wanted to see him. Steve looked up after a few minutes.

"Did you finally figure it out?" He had a demented smile on his face, as if being physically in this world was enough to dive him insane.

"You're the one who set this up. Vlad didn't have to do anything." I was fumbling with my words. I knew what he'd done, but my words were failing me.

"All I did was waste a bit of the Capitol's combined money and it started crumbling on it's own." I looked at him oddly. I knew the Capitol was run by major companies, but his words didn't add up in my mind. "You're blind, Jon. The Capitol has been running off a combined pool of company money. No one company has been in power for years. You could have stopped this war years ago, but you don't pay attention. One educated complaint could have knocked the Capitol out of power as soon as it started to go under. Even once the major powers put their money together, you could have knocked them down.

"Did you know in technicality, the Capitol's ruling power can't be comprised of multiple companies? It's a little known law meant to be a fail safe to keep more than one batshit crazy from getting into power at once. The only problem is that most people don't know how things are run in the first place, much less about that little detail."

I watched that grin grow. "They started to run out of money and the tensions made it impossible to keep their dirty little secret completely under wraps. I think you can imagine how happy Vlad was to know DALV had more than enough power to take over." Only half of what he said made sense, making me honestly wonder if he really had lost his mind.

"Why the fuck would you want Vlad in power?" That was the only answer I really wanted. I didn't care about how it happened, all I cared about was why he'd do this.

"After all the shit I've seen you do from world to world as a goody little two shoes? To see the look on your face. First you lost Anne, and now you're about to lose the war. You lost, again and this isn't something little you can fix."

No matter what he had said, only one thing had stuck in my head. "You shouldn't know about Anne."

Steve shrugged. "I shouldn't, except for the bit where I killed her. It was rather fun, actually. She had quite a beautiful little scream when she felt my hands on her." No, he didn't. "I know what you're thinking, and I'll just put you mind at ease. I did."

I snapped. I knew losing control of my anger was dangerous, but I couldn't think straight enough to give a damn anymore. "You little bastard!" Even though it was supposed to be impossible for anyone but a halfa to get into Steve's cage, I found myself suddenly inside it, two hands wrapped around Steve's neck. I watched as Steve's expression suddenly turned to one of fear. My grip tightened around his neck as his breathing stopped. I knew I shouldn't be doing this, but I didn't care. I wanted him dead. I didn't care that it'd only kill him here, I wanted this bastard dead.

It wasn't until I'd felt the beat of his heart stop that Danny got to me and pulled me out of Steve cell. I laughed when I saw Steve fall to the ground, lifeless. He was dead. He touched Anne, and now he was dead.

* * *

_O_O Note to self, don't piss off Jon..._

_Speaking of which, Jon's story, From One World to the Next, on Fiction press has a new chapter up! :D_

_ s/3102684/4/From-One-World-to-the-Next_

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	11. Chapter 11

As soon as the alarm started blaring, I flew through layers and layers of the base to reach Steve's holding cell, but when I got there he was already dead. I heard Jon laughing as Steve's body fell to the ground and a chill went up my spine. Jon was scaring me slightly, causing me to wonder just how intact his sanity really was; living in god only knows how many different realities at the same time is bound to cause someone to have some serious issues.

The others arrived only a few minutes after I'd gotten Jon out of Steve's cell. Jon had calmed down by then and had lost the terrifying vibe he'd had only moments ago, but that couldn't hide Steve's dead body and that something had caused him to snap.

Honestly, Jazz surprised me by being the first to break the silence. "What happened, Jon?"

He gave a slightly twisted smile, and just like that the chill was running right back up my spine. "He touched Anne, and so I killed him." He said it with no emotion, something that scared me farther. No number of ghosts and fights can prepare you for the terror Jon was evoking.

I saw Jazz swallow, doing her best to conceal her fear. "What do you mean he touched her?"

"That bastard raped her, but I killed him, so we're even now."

Jazz was shocked, but she wasn't the only one. Jon was scaring all of us. It only got worse as I realized he'd managed to get into Steve's cell in the first place. That wasn't supposed to be possible, meaning that Jon had a lot of power behind him that he kept under wraps. If he lost control again...well, something told me that we'd be wishing he were back to this state; we'd be wishing he were back to talking about horrifying events like it were the weather.

I saw mom and Fritz share a look before they both started to move. Mom moved silently behind Jon, moving closer and closer while Fritz walked in front of him. "Jon, calm down. Now." Fritz's voice was steady and commanding, but Jon just tilted his head to the side.

"You can't control me, Fritzerland." Jon's tone had changed to resemble a small child, taunting someone it knew had no real power.

Fritz shrugged. "You're right." I saw mom move forward and something shocked Jon in the back. "But she can."

Jon fell to the ground as the electric shock died out. We all eyed him carefully as he came back around a few minutes later.

"Good god," he pinched the bridge of his nose, "what the hell hit me?"

"You snapped," Fritz said as Jon's head shot up. "Don't worry, if anything you probably did the world a favor this time. You weren't coming out of it on your own and we kinda had to reset you manually, though. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little lower voltage would be appreciated next time though; I can still feel it." Jon rolled his head, while most of us just stared wide eyed.

Fritz raised an eyebrow. "Would you have rathered it not be enough and us be trying to deal with you pissed off like that?"

"Point taken. Who got the receiving end of it?" Jon asked.

His friend pointed at Steve's body. "Like I said, you did the world a favor this time."

"You know, I'd love to feel bad about that, but I just don't."

"Okay, would someone please tell us what the hell just happened?" I smirked at Sam's voice, though I was slightly surprised that she didn't say something earlier.

Jon was the one to answer. "I snapped, and went into something akin to a blind rage. I knew what I was doing, and I'm sure I'll be able to remember it as soon as this damn electricity stops running through me, but I wasn't really in control of my actions. Most of the time I can pull myself out of it when it happens, but sometimes I can't. There was some other world in which I learned that a strong enough electric shock will bring me out of it."

"And you didn't think that this might be something important for the whole team to know?"

Jon glared at Sam. "Would you like the whole world knowing about a problem that's almost never presents itself? There's a good chance that if you see me snap like that again, it won't be for a few years."

I stepped forward. "Are you okay?"

Jon glared again, obviously not at all pleased that all of us knew about his slight anger issues now. "I'm fine. Don't we have more pressing things to deal with? Like Vlad and the security hole you people need to take advantage of now before it closes?"

"Security hole?" I asked, completely lost.

Jon smacked his own forehead. "Yes, a security hole. They didn't update their computer systems often, meaning Tucker could probably bypass anything he wanted blindfolded, but we will lose that if Vlad notices it. Get to work. I'll be fine." With that, he practically pushed everyone but Fritz out of the room and slammed the door shut behind us.

Of course, being half ghost that didn't stop me from hearing what was happening in the room that once held Steve. I knew I shouldn't have been listening, but I needed to know if this was really going to go away or if we might have to deal with it again.

"It's getting worse, and you can't pretend you don't notice it."

"I know! It's not my fault! Look, I know these attacks are getting more and more violent, but what the hell am I supposed to do about it? Gaining control is the only thing I can do!"

"I know you're trying, but what if it isn't someone like Steve on the receiving end next time? What are we going to do then?"

"I don't know, Fritz. I honest to God don't know."

* * *

_Wee! New chapter! And I'm slightly hyper!_

_Anyway, a summer update schedule for all of my stories can be found on my profile._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	12. Chapter 12

We told Tucker about the security holes Jon claimed there were, but Vlad must have found then first. At first we thought we'd have to rethink our plan, then Tucker started laughing at the patches and told us he could get past them within the hour once we were ready to take the Capitol down.

So, now we had a plan that was ready to go as soon as we were, all that was left to do was get ready for the onslaught.

That's when the first crack in the plan started to appear.

We were sitting through lunch, vaguely talking about the less important parts of the plan (you never know who might be listening in) when Claire walked up, looking nervous. She walked up to Fritz and every one of us saw the "oh shit" going through his mind.

"I need to tell you something." Claire put her hand on the back of her neck, the same way I do when I get nervous.

Megan cut in. "Just a second." She then proceeded to smack her brother quite firmly upside the head. Several times over. "Okay, you can go ahead now."

Fritz let out a sigh. "I have a feeling I know where this is going, but go ahead and tell me."

"I...uh..." Claire took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

"Well...shit. I...uh...I really don't know how we're going to deal with this," he said, looking down and seeming rather lost for a guy who usually knew almost everything Jon did.

"I'll tell you how you're going to deal with this," Megan said. "You're staying out of this fight and you're going to take care of her and your kid or I'm gonna personally see to your execution."

It was then that I noticed Asa was studying Claire intently, then she started looking between her and me. After a minute, I saw some form of understanding light up in her eyes. "Wait a minute before you pass that judgment, Megan. Danny and Danielle, go stand on either side of Claire." I looked at her oddly, but complied, as did Danielle.

"I'm not sure what the point of this is," I heard Dani say from Claire's other side.

"You'll see in a minute." Asa turned to the others. "Look at them closely, what do you see?"

"Holy shit. I hadn't noticed that before," Ben said while the rest of the group just stared at both us and them confused.

"What is it that you and nutcase are seeing?"

"Disregard hair and eye color, Fish. What do you see?"

Fish stared at us for a minute before speaking again. "They're...damn, that's an uncanny similarity," Fish stated.

That started to worry me. What they were insinuating...no, it wasn't possible, right? "Dani...how many cloning pods did Vlad have?" I asked.

"Six, why?" Dani may have asked why, but I could tell she was starting to piece together the same thing I was.

"I only remember seeing four others besides you. The three he sent after me that melted and the one that melted when we took his lab down." I suddenly turned on Claire, ecto-energy dancing around my fists. "Who the hell are you?"

She tried to look innocent. "Exactly who you think I am."

Fritz went wide eyed. "Oh hell no. You are not telling me she's your clone!"

Claire looked down. "I am...but you still want me and our child, right?" She was acting slightly heartbroken at the thought that Fritz might not want her, but I've lied enough times in my life to know she was acting.

"Our kid? Yes. You? No." I never thought Fritz could be so harsh. "You weren't truthful with me about who you were and honestly, I've got enough shit to deal with as it is and I've got this little voice nagging me in the back of my mind that you're working for Vlad, that all of this was his plan. I hate to judge people, but my gut is screaming at me and I've got a life of experience telling me not to ignore my gut. So you can go back to your father and tell him that his little plan to strategically get me out of the picture for this war isn't going to work."

He took a breath, trying to calm himself down a little. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going into this fight and when I get back, I'm taking custody of that child. I don't have time to deal with you right now." He waved the nearest pair of on-duty soldiers over. "I want you to keep her out of trouble and away from us, got it?" He sent the pair of soldiers a death glare.

"Sorry, but we don't take orders from kids."

I very nearly walked over and punched them both in the face. These idiots ought to know who their commanding officers were. Even if we didn't use our power often, these guys should still know to respect it when we do pull it out. "First off, he's got more political power in this base then the two of you combined; secondly, he could kick both your sorry asses blindfolded. For now though, his orders just became mine."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I scowled. "Third in command and I've got the ghost powers to prove it." I let my eyes flash their ghostly green. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to get mom up here just to take care of this.

The pair looked mortified. "S-sorry, sir. We'll take care of it." They walked off, taking a seething Claire with them.

Fish just stared after them in disbelief. "Shouldn't they have known?"

"Yeah, they should have," I said, "but I have a feeling Vlad gave them as little information as possible as to who was in charge around here. I'll have to talk to mom about that. We can't have them all questioning our command when we start this battle." I looked at Fritz as a thought suddenly hit me. "How did you know Claire was working for Vlad?"

"I've heard some of his little lapdog soldiers talking in training about how they couldn't believe Vlad had trusted some random girl with a top secret task when they were clearly more qualified. As soon as you realized she was your clone, I just kinda clicked in my head and I couldn't shake the feeling that it was her." He let out a half hearted chuckle. "I have to give him credit though. If you guys hadn't figured out she was a clone, he'd have gotten me out of the fight and had one less person to deal with."

Megan put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "You okay?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, I just don't know how I'm going to raise a kid on my own at the end of all this."

"You've dealt with me through my young teenage years and I turned out okay. I'm sure you'll do fine, and if not we'll just blame Danny for the hell of it." He raised an eyebrow, but smiled all the same.

"Well, now that that's taken care of..." I saw Fish's evil smile and was scared of what she'd say next. "So, Fritz. How does if feel to know you pretty much fucked Danny?"

Every one of us just stared at her wide eyed while she just grinned at our reactions.

"Do you know how many times a day I want to kill you sometimes?" I asked.

"Dozens, probably, but you know you'd miss me."

* * *

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	13. Chapter 13

We were all silent as we walked down to the training rooms. We'd told mom yesterday that we planned to make an attack in a week after Fritz and Claire revealed to us that Vlad was trying to subtly remove us from the fight. She said she was going to change up our training since we planned on attacking so soon, but we didn't know what she had planned.

When we arrived, Mom sent us down to the arena but we all stopped when we heard a rather annoyed Asa talking with my mom.

"Why are you holding us back?" Ben was next to her, but he had yet to say anything.

"Because you two frankly don't have the skills necessary to fight much less survive. I'm not letting the two of you go into this fight; you will be staying here." I had to agree with mom, but it was also clear that Asa wasn't having any of it.

"I'd be willing to bet I know more than you think I do," she said.

"Doubtful. I've seen and analyzed every training session you've done. You aren't ready."

"You've analyzed everything I've done to keep track of improvements?" Mom nodded. "It's probably leveled off to little improvement lately because I've honestly gotten bored." Asa shrugged as if that should have been the most obvious thing in the world. "Pretty much the same thing that happens in school. I wrap my mind around the material and promptly get bored of the corresponding work and it thus never gets done. I'm sure all my teachers always think I'm going to fail until they look at my first test grade."

"Well then how do you propose you prove me wrong? How are you going to prove you can go on this mission and not get yourself killed?" Mom retorted, apparently thinking she was going to win this.

"Give me a level that you think I absolutely cannot beat. If I pass it, I train him for the week and we both go on this mission."

"Fine," mom relented. "Go down there and we'll see if you are as good as you seem to think." At first, I thought mom was going to play fair, but then I saw the smirk on her face and realized she had a plan.

Asa went down the elevator and when she appeared in the arena below, mom started the level. As always, the computer first read off the file name and my eyes widened as I realized what mom was doing.

"Mom, that's one of my levels! She doesn't stand a chance against that!" I had recognized the string of seemingly random letters and numbers after hearing it god only knows how many times over the past few days as mom attempted to get Dani, Fish, and I all working as a perfect team now that Fish's only missing power was her transformation.

"I know. I need to show her she's not ready."

None of us really expected what came next as the blasts started firing from the walls.

At first, Asa tried her usual method of just taking control of the energy as it came towards her, but it quickly became clear that wasn't going to work as her eyebrows furrowed and she had to duck out of the way. As she got up, I saw her eyes light up with understanding, then with an idea. Suddenly, the runaway blast of ecto-energy froze, along with the two additional shots that had just been fired off, and we all watched wide-eyed as they each flew back to hit their respective targets.

The look on mom's face was priceless.

The girl in the arena down below continued to fight off the on coming blasts as they came in quicker succession and from more and more places along the walls. They didn't hit her, but several time we saw them bounce off her a few inches from where she was standing and dealing with a different blast. At one point, she even managed to get herself to hover in mid-air for a minute as volley of ecto-blasts hit the ground beneath her feet.

I think it's safe to say she was right when she told mom she knew a lot more than mom thought she did.

Finally, the blasts stopped coming and the level was passed. Asa looked tired, but no one could argue that she hadn't passed the level. She lazily walked back to the elevator and appeared before us a few moments later.

"You know, giving me Danny's level wasn't exactly fair, but I guess it didn't really matter in the end." She smirked, very clearly pleased with herself.

"But...how? That shouldn't have been possible." Mom shook her head as she answered, still trying to figure out how she could have been so very wrong.

"Eh, I had to cheat a little." Mom's looked up sharply at the word "cheat." "Relax, it's just a figure of speech. I mean I had to do something the unconventional way. Instead of directly controlling the blasts, I took control of the energy around them and used that to redirect them."

Mom didn't buy that though and spent the next hour looking over the footage and stat readout, looking for any indication that Asa really had had help. She didn't find anything though and gave up in the end. "Fine. You can fight, but if Ben isn't able to take out the same level at the end of the week, he stays here."

Asa shrugged, "Okay. He's probably already figured out most of what I did in his head anyway. He'll be ready by the end of the week."

The rest of the training session was pretty uneventful, but at the end I saw Sam walk over to Asa and asked to talk to her. They both left shortly after that, neither one of them scared of what my mom might do in retaliation.

* * *

I internally groaned when Sam asked to talk to me. If I'd known that little cheat comment would cause me so much trouble, I'd have never said it. I really didn't have any help, I just went around the norms to achieve the desired effect.

"I really didn't cheat, if that's what you're here to bug me about. I thought your mother-in-law already proved that." Yes, I was slightly irritated; I'd been asked about this by almost everyone else already.

"Maddie isn't my mother-in-law," Sam replied.

"She will be in what? A year or two when you and Danny can actually get married?" I watched her blush a bit at the mention of her marrying Danny. It couldn't have really have been that big of a surprise to her; everyone knew it was going to happen, they were practically joined at the hip as it was.

"We aren't here to talk about my love-life."

"Then what did you drag me out here for?"

"I figured I'd be adventurous and try this thing they call "giving advice" for once." I looked at her oddly. What could she possibly think she needed to give me advice on? "You need to tell him how you feel."

I looked at her in shock. "Wait, what?" There was no way she could know, right?

Sam just stared at me like I was quite possibly an idiot. "Did ya' really think you could hide that from me of all people? I've been there, it sucks. You'll be better off if you tell Ben how you feel."

I shook my head. "It's not that simple."

"Do tell me how it isn't that simple."

"I can't tell him, okay?" I really did have an argument for this, my mind was just too scrambled to find it right now.

"Why not? Even if you think it'll just make things awkward, you still need to tell him. He won't wait forever, regardless of what reality you're in."

Did I think it would make things awkward? I though back to our past, where I found out he liked me one year and told me he loved me the next. "It won't make things awkward, I just..." I sighed, not quite believing I was about to trust this to a cartoon character that shouldn't really exist in the first place. "I don't want us to end up together, then wake up one morning to find that being in this reality wasn't permanent. It hurt like hell to lose him so suddenly when we were just friends; I don't want to know what it'd feel like to loose him if we were together."

Sam seemed to take a moment to consider my words before speaking again. "Okay, but what was your biggest regret when you lost him in your world?"

I didn't answer, knowing it would only serve to prove her point. I regretted never getting to tell him, but now I was just scared to.

Sam took my silence as an answer. "Just think about it, okay? I really do think you'll be better off." And with that, she walked off to god only knows where, just leaving me with my thoughts.

* * *

_Look at me being up at six in the morning (I've yet to sleep for the night) just so I don't fall behind on another story. Aren't you all so proud of me? :P_

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	14. Chapter 14

There were two days left until we planned to attack, but we honestly didn't have a plan. Sure, we'd tried to come up with something, but we all knew it was nothing Vlad wouldn't see coming. He had all the same information as we did and would see all the same weaknesses we would. The only thing we had going for us was that Tucker could get past any electronic security, but past that we were on our own and, sadly, probably best off winging it and that was only because it would be harder for Vlad to predict our next move if even we didn't know it.

This was not going to end well.

I knew not everyone who went into this was going to be coming back out alive; some would never come back out at all. My team could probably get in and out of there without losing anyone, but I wasn't sure about the small army accompanying us. Even though we were only taking those that Fritz had been personally training for months, I knew it wasn't going to be enough to get them all out alive. I wished I could just leave them here, but the numbers those soldiers would give us might be enough to turn the tide in our favor. It was a horrible catch 22.

Losing this fight was my biggest fear at the time, but losing Sam was a close second. I wouldn't be there to protect her if she needed it as one of the few things we had set in stone put the two of us on different teams. I'd be with Dani and Fish while Sam would be on the ground with Fritz and Jon, directing the soldiers as several of those poor souls marched to their deaths.

Just like that night before my second round in the Games, I was scared to go into this without making sure Sam and I wouldn't forget one of our last nights if something happened to one of us. Sam and I had never made a habit out of sex, and that was the probably the only reason mom wasn't more hell bent on keeping us from doing it, and even though we'd done the deed just a few weeks ago, I wanted to do it again tonight and make it special before we left.

I don't think I'll ever know for sure if Sam had the same thoughts as me that night, but it didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that this was her night and I'd be damned if I let our time become forgettable on one of the last nights before what could quite possibly be the biggest fight of our lives.

* * *

Two days left and I could feel the anger bubbling underneath the surface again; I could feel the same anger that made me snap when it got to be too much. Vlad needed to go fuck himself for the Hells he was pushing onto us.

Honestly though, it wasn't Vlad that scared me so much as it was the fact that I knew how fast my frustrations were adding up. If I snapped during battle, the team I went after would be the ones decimated.

If I turned on my own team, I'd lose this war again.

"You there, Jon?" Fritz's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and back to the scene of his and his sister's room. I had decided to crash here tonight since Megan was god knows where (and by that I mean she was probably with Jazz considering just how close they'd gotten lately) and I wasn't sure I wanted to be in my room tonight. Fish and I were the lucky owners of the two rooms on either side of the one Danny and Sam shared and when they got going, they could get pretty loud. It wasn't as bad for me since I didn't have the heightened hearing that Fish did, but still. I did not want to be hearing those two going at it tonight.

"Yeah, I'm just over thinking again," I said.

"I think we both need to relax some and let the shit hit the fan tomorrow." I smirked, knowing what he was trying to ask for.

"Give me a minute," I said as I let my mind focus on the other realities flashing around me; I knew there was a party around here somewhere that wouldn't notice a few missing beers.

It didn't take me long to find what we were looking for and managed to snag a full six-pack to take back with me. If Megan knew this was what I used my newfound control for, she'd hang both our heads on her wall. We didn't do this often, but I'm not saying it was an extremely rare event. Now that I think about it, it happened almost every time I came over here to avoid having to listen to Danny and Sam's nighttime activities if Megan wasn't around to bust us for it.

I threw a can at Fritz. "It's your turn to figure out how to get rid of these so your sister doesn't violently kill us later."

He popped open the effortlessly caught can and shrugged. "It's not that hard, I just have to-" He was cut off as we heard the door open. "Shit," he said right as Megan walked in. She was going to kill us.

Megan just stared at us for a moment. "Again? Really?" We just started at her wide-eyed. She knew? "What? Are you not even going to offer me one?" With that, she walked over and grabbed a can for herself.

"Wait, you knew about this? And you're okay with it?" Fritz asked in disbelief and I couldn't blame him for his confusion; I thought she was going to kill us for it too.

Megan just looked at her brother like he was an idiot and she was wondering why we all thought he was smart. "I know more that you think I do. I may be fifteen, but I'm not oblivious." She took a sip from the can. "By the way, I am going Thursday."

"Not just no, but hell no. You aren't going, Megan."

"It's a damn good thing I got permission from someone higher up than you then, huh?" she retorted like the smart-ass all of us were.

"I said no, Megan. I'm not letting you do this!"

Megan scowled, but I knew she wasn't going to back down. "Maddie said it was okay." I saw Fritz about to say something, but his sister cut him off before his mouth had fully opened. "I'm not staying here. I would rather go into this battle and die alongside you than wake up Friday morning to someone telling me you're dead and I don't have a single damn family member left. I'm going." This girl was determined, and I wasn't the only one who saw it.

"I can't stop you, can I?" Fritz asked as he realized he was better off letting her go and keeping her in his sights than having her sneak out and not knowing where the hell she was.

"Nope. Now can I finish this before Jazz comes looking for me? I am not going to be the one to explain how in the hell you two got ahold of these." And with that she down the rest of the can, crushed it and threw it at her brother's head. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know now. It'll give you time to get you're head on straight again before we do this."

Fritz went through three beer cans that night and got a little loony halfway through the third as he'd never let himself have more than just one. I knew why though, he was trying not to have to face the fact that his little sister was about to put her life on the line. If it had been any other night, I wouldn't have let him do it, but he needed something to help him cope with it and time wasn't an option we had. I knew he'd be fine in the morning (all the other realities had shown me that the lucky little devil never got hang-overs) and would bounce back into the role he needed to fill.

The one thing I hoped for was that he wouldn't let his worry impact his performance during the battle. He was a valuable player we couldn't afford to lose.

* * *

Two days before the battle was supposed to take place, I found myself taking a deep breath and convincing myself that I could in fact do this. I knew Sam was right, I needed to tell Ben the truth about my feelings, but that didn't make it any easier to do. I wasn't good with even understanding my emotions, much less telling someone about them.

Ben and I were just hanging out in our room, not really doing much at all, and when we came to a long period of silence I decided it was time to take care of things.

I took a deep breath, trying to slow my pounding heart down at least a little. "Ben, I think we need to have a serious talk," I said, a little too terrified to feel proud of the fact that I'd actually managed not to stumble over my words.

He sighed. "You want to know what happened to me, don't you?"

I nodded. I was going to tell him how I felt, but I also needed to know what the hell had been going on in his life while he was gone. I had never wanted to push him about it before, but god damnit I needed to know because it fucking hurt not to know anything about what was happening to him. "I want to know what's been going on, but I also want to get all my cards on the table first." I closed my eyes, mentally gathering the courage I needed to do this, before looking him in the eye again. "Ben, I...I love you. It's okay if you don't want the same thing I do, I just thought I was only fair to tell you. But, whether you want us to be something more than friends or not, I still need to know what the hell happened to you. I can't take not knowing anything anymore."

"Asa..." He trailed off like he didn't know how to respond to that and after a few seconds of nothing, I turned away as I felt tears starting to form in my eyes. I had always known it was possible he'd moved on and let go of me, but seeing the possibility and seeing it start to play out in real life are two completely different things.

Then, I felt his fingers lifting my chin up and turning my head to face him. My mind was lost to a whirlwind of thoughts as I felt his lips touch mine. I didn't know how the hell you were supposed to kiss someone (he was currently stealing my first kiss), but even with the awkwardness as I tried to figure out what to do, I couldn't deny that it felt right.

He pulled away after a few moments. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you." Then, he looked down, almost like he was scared. "I just hope what I have to tell you doesn't scare you away."

"No matter what story you have to tell me, I promise you that I'll still be here right at the end. We've been through Hell and back over the years; I think we can get through this."

Ben looked at me, as if convincing himself that I meant what I said, and I did. He took a deep breath and began to tell his story.

He swore me to a vow a secrecy that day and even now I won't break it for the sake of a simple story. I don't think he's ever told anyone else the full story of what happened to start some of his darkest days and it's not my choice to tell others what happened. It's his story, not mine.

I will tell you this though, what he told me was all I ever needed to know. He wasn't the man all the rumors made him out to be, he was exactly the man I knew he was. That's all I needed to know; that's all anyone ever needed to know.

* * *

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	15. Chapter 15

_*tauntingly/sing-song* Fish, it's happening! :P_

* * *

Sam sighed, a pleasant smile on her face as we rolled over, sweaty, exhausted, and satisfied.

"Pleased?" I asked, knowing this was one of the few times when getting slightly cocky wouldn't get me smacked upside the head.

"Very," she responded, laying her head on my chest.

"Good." I kissed her forehead. "I don't want our time before we go to be forgettable."

"I know," she said, letting out a sigh. "I'm scared."

I looked at her in surprise. Sam almost never got scared and even then she refused to show it. "We're gonna get through this, Sam. Just like every other time, we'll make it through this."

She gave a small smile, though I knew my words weren't enough to comfort her. "Just promise me one thing, Danny."

"Hmm?"

"Promise you'll be back."

"I will, if you do the same for me."

"Okay." I leaned down to capture her lips in mine and we engaged in a passionate dance, staying together for a few minutes before she pulled back for air. "Still nervous?"

"I'm strong, not insane."

"Well, maybe we should get your mind off it." I smirked at her and made a playful suggestive wink.

Sam laughed. "I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow if you keep this up!"

"That just means I'm doing my job right." I stole another kiss before she could make a retort and we slowly lost ourselves to one another once more.

Sam never did realize I hadn't made a more binding promise than what had been implied. I was going to fight tooth and nail to come back, but I knew better than to make a promise I didn't know I could keep.

* * *

"You ready?" We all nodded in response to Maddie's question. Today was the day; today was the day that'd start the biggest fight of our lives. "I'll have Tucker start work on the defenses in two hours. I want all of you back in here and ready to go by then." We all nodded again, then slowly started making our way back out the doors to spend these few hours in peace.

While most ran off with those closest to them, I had some business to take care of. I could only hope this wouldn't come back around to bite me in the ass...or, more specifically, that she wouldn't come back around to bite me in the ass.

Come on, Megan. You can do this. You've told guys how you felt before, telling a girl can't be that different...right?

Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? It feels totally different.

My heart wouldn't stop pounding as I slowly roamed the halls in search of my target. I wanted to do this, but I was scared to death. I wasn't scared of what people might think, if anything I was almost looking forward to what was sure to be my brother's amusing reaction, it was just the normal nerves that come with showing someone your feelings for the first time. I couldn't even say I'd started flirting with her some when I realized how I felt; I couldn't even flirt with guys, how the hell was I supposed to flirt with a girl? I'd never been oblivious to the whole "I swing both ways" thing, I just hadn't found a reason for it to matter before now. I'd liked a grand total of two guys and had yet to find a girl that interested me with more than just a physical attraction; hence why I'd never bothered to tell my brother or anyone else.

But now, she was about to know and this could go a million different ways, at least half of which would be hard to consider "good." I was freaking out, but I had to do this for myself. She was a good person, and even if this didn't go the way I was hoping, we'd probably just end up laughing it off in the end anyway.

I hoped Jazz was right when she said I'd be best off just telling them how I feel.

There's her room; that's where she's most likely to run off to, right? I mean, everyone else is off with their best friend or love interest and she hasn't had anyone since the end of the last Games, since Simon died. That was six months ago. I hope it's not too soon.

I knocked on the door, fidgeting for the whole five seconds it took for her to open it. "Uhh...hi," was my oh so intelligent greeting. I really needed to calm down or there was no way in hell I was going to be able to pull this off.

"Hi." She suddenly quirked an eyebrow. "Why is your heart racing?"

I looked at her blankly.

"What?"

"Your heart, I can hear it. Why is it racing?" Right, supernatural hearing. She could pick up on just about anything. You'd think I'd be able to remember that.

"C-can I talk to you?" I half expected some smartass remark, but instead she just nodded and moved to let me in.

I looked around at her room as I walked in. Even though I'd been in here dozens of times, it still felt like I was seeing it for the first time. Maybe it's because I'd never been in here without Jazz before. Thinking about it now, there's a good chance Jazz already knew even without telling her.

"You okay?" She asked. I didn't answer, I wasn't even sure what the answer to that question was. "It's okay if you're too scared to go, you know. I'm sure your brother would rather you stay here anyway."

I shook my head. "That's not it." I took a deep breath; it was now or never. "I really hope this doesn't freak you out or that it's too soon or-"

"Calm down. You're rambling." She smirked. "What's going on?"

"I..." I was right, this feels totally different than telling a guy how I feel. How do I know she won't think this is totally gross?

I'm just freaking myself out again, she won't turn on me for this. She's made enough jokes about Fritz and Jon there's no way she'd discriminate because of this, right?

Right.

I hope.

"Look, I know this might be kinda weird, but..." Just get it out there already. "I, uh...I kinda like you." There. I got it out. It may have been excessively quiet, but I had gotten it out there.

Fish looked stunned to say the least. "That's...okay...wow." She was silent for a few moments as she seemed to sort through some things in her mind. "You do mean romantically, right?" I nodded. "I...really don't know what I think about that..."

"I-it's okay if you aren't interested, I can live with that." My face burned as I was met with a massive wave of awkwardness.

"I...I mean...I'm willing to try, I've just never thought of being with another woman before..."

"So...we'll try this?"

"Yeah, we'll try." She smiled and I smiled back. "I assume your brother doesn't know?"

"No, not yet. Why?"

"I'm pretty sure he's the one out there looking for you and I'm gonna guess he'll walk in here in a few seconds.

"...I have an idea that would be really funny if your okay with it."

Her response almost made it seem like she read my mind as she suddenly had an evil little smirk appeared on her face. "If that's how you want him to find out."

"I don't really care how he finds out. Might as well make it funny."

"Alright. Just wait a second, we're gonna wanna time this right."

I nodded and after that we didn't have long to wait. Fish leaned in as soon as even I could hear my brother's footsteps.

And right when I started to hear his voice, she kissed me "Hey Fish, have you seen...Megan?" I barely opened my eyes in time to see the look on his face. Even if I didn't like her, this would have been so worth it.

We pulled apart and it was hard to keep myself from laughing at his reaction. "...Megan? What...? I thought... I-I mean, you never told me..."

"Surprise," I said. I knew it probably wasn't the best idea to be messing with him this close to go time, but I couldn't resist. He'd be able to get over it pretty fast, and this was funny as hell.

"I... You know what, we'll talk about this later."

"Did you need something, Fritz?" Fish asked.

"Not anymore. I was just wondering where Megan went..." He shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly. "I think I'll just go now...uh...just be downstairs with the rest of us in an hour..."

As soon as he walked out the door, Fish and I burst out laughing. "That was hilarious," she said.

"Yeah." I let our laughter die down before I asked the question now beating on my skull. "You uh...you didn't just do that to freak my brother out, right?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't do that to you. I wanted to know how it felt, too."

"How did it feel?"

"I...I don't know. I mean it wasn't bad, just...weird. It was something new, I guess."

"Fair enough."

* * *

_Well...let's see whether or not Fish kills me for that__ one..._

_Comment s and feedback are as welcome as always!__ :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


End file.
